Checking in with Griffin at 15 Months

15 months ago, a precocious baby joined our family.  Things have not been the same since!  Watching Griffin develop into a little person has been an amazing experience…he’s packed full of personality and smarts.  My husband and I often joke that Griffin is going to be tutoring us someday!  Griffin recently had his 15 month check up and he’s developing quite well.  Here’s a little information about how the G-man is doing…..

Height:  33 ¼ inches (95%)

Weight: 29 lbs. 3 oz. (90%)

This boy is growing like a weed.  The doctors says he’s the size of a 23 month old....Griffin’s father is hoping for a sports scholarship someday – lol!

Gross/Fine Motor

• G is running around everywhere!  He is much more fluid walking over uneven surfaces and is developing an awareness and caution for them.  He continues to climb up the stairs and can alternate his legs to climb when an adult is holding his hands. 
• One of G's favorite things to do is walk around carrying things as well as to push chairs around our house.  When you ask him if something is heavy, he grunts when trying to pick it up!
• Griffin is able to open all of our door handles – scary!  We haven’t had any major accidents until this past week.  He opened our garage door which does not lock and fell from the stairs.  He did a full flip in the air and landed on his back.  He was scared but okay with a little bruising.  I told him that he would have won and Olympic gold if it hadn’t been for the landing – ha!
• Griffin’s height is an asset to him when he wants to reach for things.  We have to make sure that we push items far enough back on our tabletops, top of our dresser, and top of our bathroom vanities. 
• Griffin is able to brush/comb is hair and brush his teeth.  He looks forward to brushing his teeth and runs to the bathroom saying ‘tee tee’ each morning and night.
• He’s able to use a toy hammer to hit a variety of objects.  He hasn’t hit his finger yet, but he’s hit mine and boy did it hurt!
• Griffin will use a spoon/fork with assistance to eat.

Vocabulary – Griffin’s receptive and expressive vocabulary are immense. 

• He is able to identify and say several body parts including: head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, leg, knee, foot, toes, fingers, nails, & hair on himself and others. 
• He follows simple directions (i.e. Bring your shirt to the laundry room, Put the nail file in Daddy’s drawer, Find the ________ book) and answers simple questions related to wants and needs (i.e. Do you want to go outside?, Are you all done?, Do you want more?, Where is (specific toy, book, person)?)
• He is a walking dictionary – lol!  I have been taking a word inventory of what he says, and it is now over 100 words!  I really think that his interest in books as well as our family’s verbal nature have helped Griffin’s expression.  However, I also feel that he’s always been a verbal kid and quite social, so these factors have helped as well.  It’s really cool to take a word inventory of what your child says.  Remember - do not focus on word pronunciation but on the fact that your child is using the same word to name an object.  For example, if your child consistently calls a butterfly “buh,” that counts as a word.  The pronunciation and articulation of speech is developmental and ‘buh’ will eventually become ‘butterfly.’  If your child is not using a consistent sound or word to name something, it should not be counted on his/her word inventory.  Words that your child imitates should not be counted.  Words that are counted should be ones that your child independently states.  Give it a try, and you’ll be amazed at how many words s/he is actually expressing!
• G states the names of family members and familiar friends.  He is not saying his own name yet and calls himself ‘baby’ when he sees a picture of himself.
• Griffin sings e-i-e-i for Old McDonald as well as 'row, row, row' for Row Your Boat.  He also likes this Country song where the chorus is "Girl, you make my speakers go 'boom boom'!" and he fills in the boom boom part.
• G is filling in the words of favorite books.  This is so cool to see!  It’s also neat to see what books he gravitates to as well.  I hope it continues as it’s important for kids to develop a love of reading.
• Some letter recognition is emerging and G identifies and names the capital B and D consistently.  He can identify and state the letter G from his name.

Social skills

• This child has never met a stranger…he readily engages with people and seeks them out.  Griffin has been very interested in reading emotions of people’s faces, faces of characters in his books, as well as faces of models in advertisements (getting the mail is one of his favorite things).  He is able to make a happy, sad, and mad face.
• We’ve started doing some 1 minute timeouts this month.  I’m not really sure they are making a difference.  The harsh voice and ‘no’ really don’t make a difference either.  Our pediatrician says that some kids get really upset and hurt by the harsh voice and ‘no.’  I guess Griffin carries his ‘happy-go-lucky’ nature to the disciplining as well.  We’ll have to keep trying different techniques to see what he responds to best when it comes to discipline.

New and favorite foods

• G’s pediatrician says that he can eat everything now.  We tried peanut butter on some whole grain bread yesterday, and it was a hit!
• G continues to enjoy all kinds of foods, but favorites are black beans, guacamole, cheese, blueberries, yogurt, and a variety of quesadilla creations.  He likes chicken and hamburgers especially when they are dipped in BBQ sauce J.

Sleep Patterns

• G has always fought sleep and it’s been an ongoing battle in our house.  Everyone has his/her own tolerance to listening to a baby cry!  I’m happy to say that G has been going to sleep at night without any tears for the past 2 months.  I read him 3 books and then put him in his crib with some of his favorite books.  I turn on the sound machine for 45 mins and play a song from his musical lamb.  He is generally asleep between 7:30 and 8:00.  It has been nice for both mom and dad to have an evening finally!!
• As for naps, I think G is a reverse napper…..he catnapped up until 7 months old.  Then, he took his first real nap.  Well, it seems that now he will go down for 2 naps a day.  These naps are generally 1 hour in length, but sometimes longer.  I guess he’s finally wearing himself out – haha!

That's our little nugget in a nutshell.  He certainly keeps me on my toes!!